Cash-strapped Ukraine is considering issuing licenses to several adult broadcasters to make up the financial shortfall resulting from the ban on Russian television channels.

“We’ve received
applications from several erotica channels. I am emphasizing,
these are erotica - not hardcore porn. We are evaluating these
applications,” said Yuri Artemenko, the head of the national
broadcasting council, according to RBC Ukraine, a financial news
channel.

“We understand that
in the difficult conditions of doing business since the banning
of Russian broadcasters, these are an additional means of
survival, particularly for cable providers.”

Artemenko said that cable companies and broadband providers have
composed a "voluntary memorandum" to avoid broadcasting
“content that could be harmful to the development of
minors.”

“The transmissions on these channels will be encoded all day,
apart from midnight to 4 am, when children should be
asleep,” Artemenko told the media in Kiev.

Artemenko said the memorandum will be signed on May 15, with
licenses to be issued after that date.

Ukraine banned Russian channels in several waves following the
secession of Crimea in March 2014 and the subsequent
intensification of the fighting in the east of the country,
accusing them of being a propaganda arm of the Kremlin.

Even re-broadcasting in hospitals and receiving signals in the
border regions falls under the prohibition, though rebels in
Donetsk and Lugansk actively encourage Russian broadcasts. A
number of Ukraine-based Russian language channels is still
transmitted throughout the country.

Ukraine has used other blunt instruments to insulate itself from
Russia’s pervasive cultural influence, banning a handful of films
propagating Russian values, including those shot decades ago. All
films featuring several prominent Russian actors who have
supported Russia’s anti-Kiev stance have also been banned

Artemenko also said that the French channel, Euronews, would be
allowed to broadcast under a new license “after promises that
they will not produce political content,” despite several
scandals which have rocked the French channel over the last
several months over both its purported pro-Russian content and
its shadowy licensing agreements. The local-language version of
the US channel MTV, which was in operation in Ukraine between
2007 and 2013, would be re-issued a license.